Instead, the court must decide whether the defendants were born of slaves (in which case they are guilty of murder) or were illegally brought from Africa (and therefore had a right to defend themselves against kidnapping). Sept. 11, 2020.
Slavery could, I suppose, be seen largely as a matter of laws and property--at least to those benefitting from it. In an unfamiliar country and not speaking a single word of English, the Africans find themselves in a legal battle. They include a horrifying scene where, with food running low on the ship, the weaker captives are chained together and thrown over the side to drown so that more food will be left for the rest. Roger Ebert was the film critic of the Chicago Sun-Times from 1967 until his death in 2013. Analysis Of The Movie ' Amistad ' 960 Words | 4 Pages “Amistad” was released in 1997 on the territory of the United States of America.The historical period, portrayed in the film, is the year of 1839. Baldwin proves through documents found hidden aboard La Amistad that the African people were initially cargo belonging to a Portuguese slave ship, the Tecora. Carter). Incongruous as it may seem, it was perfectly possible in the nineteenth century to condemn the importation of slaves from Africa while simultaneously defending slavery and the flourishing slave trade within the United States.
This legal distinction is not made as clear as it could have been; the international slave trade had been outlawed by treaties by 1839, the year of the landmark Amistad incident, but those who were already slaves remained the property of their masters--as did their children. Baldwin shows from the Tecora’s inventory that the number of African people taken as slaves was reduced by fifty. Ambassador to the Netherlands, 1794–1797, President, American Academy of Arts and Sciences, President, Columbian Institute for the Promotion of Arts and Sciences, Massachusetts Historical Society holdings, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Amistad_(film)&oldid=985404772, Films about Presidents of the United States, United States Declaration of Independence, Album articles lacking alt text for covers, Wikipedia articles with BIBSYS identifiers, Wikipedia articles with CANTIC identifiers, Wikipedia articles with WorldCat-VIAF identifiers, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, Steven Spielberg, Debbie Allen, Colin Wilson. Cinque tells his story at trial: Cinque was kidnapped by slave traders outside his village, and held in the slave fortress of Lomboko, where thousands of captives were held under heavy guard. Amistad’s problems go far deeper than such anachronisms as President Martin Van Buren campaigning for re-election on a whistle-stop train tour (in 1840, candidates did not campaign), or people constantly talking about the impending Civil War, which lay twenty years in the future. Morgan Freeman, Anthony Hopkins, Djimon Hounsou, and Matthew McConaughey had starring roles.
The Lomboko slave fortress is liberated by the Royal Marines under the command of Captain Fitzgerald. The two men who bought them are spared, and promise to guide the ship back to Africa. The musical score for Amistad was composed by John Williams. Blog. The case finally gets to the Supreme Court, where John Quincy Adams (Sir Anthony Hopkins) makes an impassioned and eloquent plea for their release. The case is a watershed moment for America-Spain relations, and reveals the political machinations as it holds repercussions on the North-South conflict eventually leading to America's Civil War.
Amistad is a 1997 American historical drama film directed by Steven Spielberg, based on the true story of the events in 1839 aboard the slave ship La Amistad, during which Mende tribesmen abducted for the slave trade managed to gain control of their captors' ship off the coast of Cuba, and the international legal battle that followed their capture by the Washington, a U.S. revenue cutter. But in praising it, I touch on the film's great weakness: It is too much about the law and not enough about the victims. [12], Amistad was nominated for Academy Awards in four categories: Best Supporting Actor (Anthony Hopkins), Best Original Dramatic Score (John Williams), Best Cinematography (Janusz Kamiński), and Best Costume Design (Ruth E. 3 interactive class activities to energize your online classroom “Amistad,” like Spielberg's “Schindler's List,” is not simply an argument against immorality. [1] The lyrics from "Dry Your Tears, Afrika" are from a 1967 poem by French-speaking Ivorian poet Bernard Binlin Dadié. Plot Keywords They are unlucky at first with their defense team, which is led by Roger Baldwin (Matthew McConaughey), a real estate lawyer who bases his case on property law and only slowly comes to see his clients as human beings. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film received an approval rating of 77% based on reviews from 64 critics, with an average score of 6.9/10. Instead, when they reach the United States, they are imprisoned as runaway slaves. His new film centers on the legal status of Africans who rise up against their captors on the high seas and are brought to trial in a New England court.
They continue to sail, hoping to find their way back to Africa. United States Attorney William S. Holabird brings charges of piracy and murder. Create a clean and professional home studio setup; Sept. 10, 2020. Amistad received mainly positive reviews. Instead, they are misdirected and when they reach the United States, they are imprisoned as runaway slaves. They don't speak a word of English, and it seems like they are doomed to die for killing their captors when an abolitionist lawyer decides to take their case, arguing that they were free citizens of another country and not slaves at all. Joseph Cinqué, a leader of the Africans, leads a mutiny and takes over the ship. The heart of the film, really, is in Anthony Hopkins' powerful performance as old John Quincy Adams, who speaks for 11 minutes in defense of the defendants, and holds the courtroom (and the audience) spellbound. Therefore, the Africans were free citizens of another country and not slaves at all. I was surprised how little importance or screen time was given to the Morgan Freeman character, who in his few scenes indicates the volumes that remain concealed. The cause is supported by two Boston abolitionists, a former slave named Joadson (Morgan Freeman) and an immigrant named Tappan (Stellan Skarsgard).
A soundtrack album was released on December 9, 1997 by DreamWorks Records. Luckily, it is a Northern court, or they would have little chance at all. They rise up against the Spanish crew of the ship, which is taking them from a Havana slave market to another destination in Cuba. One of the astonishing facts revealed in Steven Spielberg's “Amistad” is that seven of the nine U.S. Supreme Court justices in 1839 were slave-owning Southerners.
Two Naval officers, Thomas R. Gedney, and Richard W. Meade, claim them as salvage while the two Spanish navigators, Pedro Montez and Jose Ruiz, produce proof of purchase. [...] "Schindler's List" works better as narrative because it is about a risky deception, while "Amistad" is about the search for a truth that, if found, will be small consolation to the millions of existing slaves. [13], 1997 historical drama film directed by Steven Spielberg, resolved by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1841, Mutiny on the Amistad: The Saga of a Slave Revolt and Its Impact on American Abolition, Law, and Diplomacy, Outstanding Achievement in Cinematography in Theatrical Releases, Excellence in Production Design for a Feature Film, Best Instrumental Composition Written for a Motion Picture or for Television, Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture, Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role, Supreme Court of the United States in fiction, Antonio González, 1st Marquess of Valdeterrazo, "The United States, Appellants, v. The Libellants and Claimants of the Schooner Amistad ...", https://www.theguardian.com/film/2000/jul/14/morganfreeman, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, USC Shoah Foundation Institute for Visual History and Education, United States House of Representatives, 1831–1848, President of the United States, 1825–1829, U.S. In light of this evidence, the staff of President Van Buren has the judge presiding over the case replaced by Judge Coglin, who is younger and believed to be impressionable and easily influenced. Some of the other performances are disappointing. Local abolitionists take up their case and hire a young and inexperienced real estate lawyer to represent them. Ever since Spielberg began “Amistad,” the story has been hyped and hailed as a great untold chapter in American history, an event to put beside Nat Turner's uprising. | During the scene depicting the destruction of the, This page was last edited on 25 October 2020, at 19:30. | Holabird contends that Cinque could have been made a debt slave by his fellow Sierra Leoneans. Synopsis Amistad filmmakers play directly to the viewers by presenting scenes that induce four specific, albeit basic, emotions: excitement, anger, sadness, and an overarching feeling of progress by the end of the film.
It was the year when a terrible rebellion took place on board the Spanish ship La Amistad, which transported slaves. Those captives that were not sold at auction were handed over to La Amistad. Later on, the ship arrived in Havana, Cuba. One of the astonishing facts revealed in Steven Spielberg's “Amistad” is that seven of the nine U.S. Supreme Court justices in 1839 were slave-owning Southerners. Djimon Hounsou's performance depends largely on his screen presence, which is formidable. Its consensus reads: "Heartfelt without resorting to preachiness, Amistad tells an important story with engaging sensitivity and absorbing skill."[7].
"[8] Roger Ebert awarded the film three out of four stars, writing: "Amistad," like Spielberg's "Schindler's List," is [...] about the ways good men try to work realistically within an evil system to spare a few of its victims. But he (Spielberg) wanted to make a point and I understood that. But they guide it instead into U.S. waters, and the Africans find themselves in an American court.
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